Verbal Beatdown
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Sometimes, Kelly doesn't feel like fighting. Fortunately, Sarah's got her back.


A safe space was an important thing for Kelly. While she always felt safe when she was with Sarah, there were times where she didn't want to even think about running into trouble. Even though aliens and Rangers battles seemed to be in the past, the fighting wasn't over.

And sometimes, Kelly didn't feel much like fighting.

For the most part, Summer Cove was a safe space. There were people who would turn up their nose when they saw Kelly and Sarah holding hands but now that the article her father wrote had been buried by more current events, those in Summer Cove who were ignorant to different forms of love felt silenced once again. Odd stares and eye rolls, while uncomfortable, were all Kelly had to worry about.

So, if the date was in Summer Cove, Kelly knew she wouldn't have anything to worry about. However, Sarah wanted to see the new action movie that had come out and it was all sold out at their local theater. She had convinced Kelly to head out of town to see it. Knowing she would always be safe with Sarah, Kelly had agreed. However, she really didn't want to fight.

Sarah had gone to save their seats in the theatre while Kelly went to get the snacks. As she waited in the line, she recognized a couple voices from the group behind her. She made sure to keep her back to them, hoping they wouldn't recognize her.

She walked up to the counter to place her and Sarah's order. She got her popcorn, their drinks and Sarah's candies and turned to make her way to the show. Unfortunately, the group behind her had been served by another cashier at the same time as her and while their food was still coming in, they did already have their drinks. Despite Kelly's best attempt to keep her face hidden, they recognized her and were quick to dump their diet pop over her head.

"If it isn't the little lesbo," Katie, the group leader, said. She shook her drink over Kelly's head, ensuring that every last drop coated Kelly in the sticky liquid before she tossed her cup aside. Apparently, humiliating Kelly was worth the outrageous movie theater price. "Thought you left town for good. What made you crawl out of your hole?"

"I'm really not in the mood, Katie," Kelly muttered and looked down at her tray. Her popcorn had been covered in the pop, but her drinks and Sarah's candies, while sticky, were still edible. At least there was that. Of course, they were likely to miss the movie. Kelly didn't think she would be able to sit through even just the trailers covered in diet pop.

Of course, that was assuming Katie would end their encounter there. A year of tormenting had taught Kelly that this cruelty was far from over.

"You know, I don't really care what you want," Katie said with a laugh as Kelly felt one of her friends dump out her popcorn over her head. Kelly could only sigh as she saw a few kernels stick to her clothes and hair because of the sticky drink. "A pervert like you deserves all the hell you're about to get."

"I'll get out of your theatre," Kelly promised.

"I don't care about that. This place is clearly tainted if they'll serve fags like you," Katie said with a shake of her head. "I'm not going to invest any more of my hard-earned money for a movie if all I'm going to be watching is two lesbians making out."

"We're just here to see a movie."

"Oh, so you are on a date?" Katie said and then turned to her friends, "Twenty bucks says her girlfriend's one of those butch, man-hating fags who only goes out with women because she's so ugly no man will ever want to date her."

"Whatever," Kelly muttered. She really didn't feel like fighting. She knew it wouldn't get her anywhere. She had tried to resist Katie's bullying when it first started, but it seemed like her resistance only fed Katie's fire. The more Kelly tried to defend herself, the more Katie pushed back.

"So, who is the man?" Katie asked. "I'd say it's the butch, but given those man hands of yours, it's probably going to go either way."

"No one's the man," Kelly muttered. "That's kind of the point."

She tried to walk away, but Katie's friends surrounded her. When Kelly tried to walk past them, one of the girls tripped her. Her soggy popcorn fell to the floor and the drinks spilled all over Kelly, covering her again in the sticky liquid. Sarah's candies were still fine, but at this point, Kelly didn't care for the snacks any more. She rushed to her feet and started to run as the crowd of people began to laugh at her.

Teary eyed, Kelly couldn't see where she was going and accidently bumped into someone. She excused herself, tried to make her way out of the theatre, but the person grabbed her. It was only then Kelly recognized Sarah's voice and touch.

"What happened?" the pink Ranger asked, concern in her voice. "Did you forget how to use the drink machines?"

"Let's just go," Kelly said and grabbed Sarah's hand, hoping to lead her off because she was forced to encounter Kelly's old friends. Unfortunately, it was too late, as Katie called out to them.

"Rot in hell, faggots!"

Kelly was used to these names. She heard them almost hourly at her old school and they were how her father regularly spoke about the LGBT community. It always hurt to hear them, but she could tune them out. However, Sarah had grown up in a loving and accepting home. These words were still new to her and enraged her much more than they did Kelly. She spun around as soon as they reached her ears and Kelly was surprised at how quickly Sarah could pinpoint exactly who said them.

"Do you want to say that again?" Sarah asked, looking Katie straight in the eye. Kelly tried to pull her back.

"They aren't worth it, Sarah."

"Did they do this?" Sarah asked her girlfriend. "Was this on purpose?"

"So, what if it was?" Katie asked with a slight shrug. "I'm assuming you're the girlfriend."

"And I'm assuming you're the one who gave my girlfriend the shower."

"As if," Katie said and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "I'd never shower with this pervert. Don't want her checking me out, thinking she can get some."

"You know, I'd really hate to break it to you," Sarah said. "But you're really not that pretty."

"You're lying."

"I mean, physically, there's nothing necessarily wrong with you. A traditional beauty, I guess."

"Oh, so now you're drooling too?"

"Don't flatter yourself, Barbie," Sarah shook her head. "I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last person on this planet. I'm just saying, there are some physical attributes you possess that do make you intriguing to people like me."

"I knew it, you want some."

"Actually, I was going to say that I find it so incredible that you manage to function without a spine," Sarah said with a smirk. "So, tell me, before you had all your girls there to have your back, did you just flop around like a pathetic, desperate jellyfish, or did some doctor assign you a crew of mindless spine sheep to hold you up from birth? As a woman of science, I'd really like to know."

"What?"

"I'm calling you spineless," Sarah said. "You're glancing back at your little brat pack every time you think you've made a jab, seeking their approval, and like the mindless sheep they are..."

"I'm not spineless," Katie said with a shake of her head. Then she turned to her friends, waiting for them to agree. When they all nodded, she glanced back at Sarah. "I'm just putting people like you in your place."

"And where is that?" Sarah asked.

"I…"

"Seriously, I'd love to know," Sarah said. "Because if we have a place where we don't have to run into losers like you, then I'd be more than happy to stay there. Is there an address you can give me?"

"Huh?"

"A ZIP Code at least? The nearest intersection?"

"I… I don't know…" Katie frowned and turned to her friends who shrugged. Sarah had to hide her smirk. It seemed this was the first time someone resisted Katie's bullying and it was causing her to flounder.

"Well, when you know where my place is, give me a call," Sarah said. "Hopefully the real estate isn't too pricey. Then again, I can't really put a price on distancing myself from spineless jerks like you and living a life of peace. Come on, Kel. Maybe we'll stumble upon this place of ours on the way home."

Sarah gently put her hand on Kelly's back and escorted her girlfriend out of the theater. They made their way to the bus stop and once there, Sarah picked out a kernel from the green Ranger's hair.

"So, that's the girl, huh?"

"Katie," Kelly nodded her head. "She's the girl I told you about."

"You used to have a crush on her?"

"Well, before the whole homophobic thing became… well, her thing," Kelly nodded. "Other than that, she's a nice person."

"Did I just give a verbal beat down to the wrong person?" Sarah frowned and when Kelly shook her head, Sarah sat next to her. "Hey, Kel, I hate to break it to you, but Katie isn't a nice person."

"I mean, aside from the homophobia…"

"It's not the homophobia that makes her an asswipe," Sarah shook her head. "It's her… spinelessness, and how she's using you as a crutch to prop herself up. I guess that makes sense. She couldn't possibly hold herself up without a crutch, given she has no spine."

"Huh?"

"She's clearly got no self-esteem."

"Katie?" Kelly frowned and shook her head. "Uh, she's the most popular girl at her school. She dates quarterbacks and college boys and…"

"So?" Sarah shook her head. "She's seeking validation from sheep."

"Her friends?"

"Sheep," Sarah said. "They feed off her popularity, she feeds off their validation. None of those girls could function as independent members of society."

"You got all that from a verbal beat down?" Kelly frowned. "You spend two minutes being discriminated against and you've already figured out the homophobic community?"

"No," Sarah shook her head. "I'll never figure them out. Though my latest theory is that someone shoved something up their asses. I've figured out bullies, Kel. People who only feel big when they make others feel small. People who have nothing better to do with their lives than tear other people down. That's what Katie is doing. Once I figured that out, she was powerless. I know there's nothing I have that she can take. As long as I don't give her the satisfaction of making me upset or mad, there's literally nothing she can do that'll hurt me. Well, almost nothing."

Sarah pulled out another kernel from her girlfriend's hair and sighed. "Is this why you didn't want to come to this theatre? You knew we were likely to run into them, didn't you?"

"I didn't think we would," Kelly shook her head. "But… people out here aren't like people in Summer Cove. I thought someone might make a comment or say something and… I really didn't feel like hearing it today."

"We could have waited to see the movie, then," Sarah said. "I'd much rather watch it when you feel comfortable and can enjoy it with me."

"Uh, men ripping off their shirts, showing off their muscles and beating each other to a pulp isn't exactly something I enjoy," Kelly said with a little laugh. "You're on your own there."

"You know what I meant," Sarah chuckled. "Look, let's head back home, get you cleaned up and maybe find something on Netflix to watch."

Kelly smiled, "I like the sound of that."

The bus pulled up. Sarah fished out the rest of her change and she and Kelly picked two seats. When they sat down, Sarah took Kelly's hand and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," she said. Kelly shrugged.

"Honestly, that was tame," she told her. "Once, they put hot sauce… well, let's just say it went somewhere it shouldn't."

"Uh… well, I am sorry about today but… I mean… Katie, in general. I'm sorry you had to put up with her. I hate to bring this up again but at least now I understand a bit better why you outed me so quickly when I asked you out."

"That's not an excuse…"

"No, but I can understand why you'd be looking out for yourself first. Especially after hearing about the hot sauce thing. They didn't… commit a crime with it… did they? Because by not telling me the details you've left it up to my imagination to put the pieces together and…"

"My eyes," Kelly said. "It ended up in my eyes."

"Good," Sarah said, then quickly took it back. "I… I don't mean good as in… I meant like… that's not as bad as what I was thinking."

"I know," Kelly chuckled. She squeezed Sarah's hand, "By the way, you really have to teach me that."

"Teach you what?"

"Verbal beatdowns," Kelly said. "Standing up to people like Katie has been a dream of mine since forever."

"I already told you," Sarah said. "Just remember that the person bullying you can't actually take anything from you. So as long as you don't give them what they're looking for, they'll just run out of steam."

"And what are they looking for?"

"Depends on the person, I guess," Sarah said. "Some look for fear. Some look for pain, or anger. Some look for excuses to play the victim card."

"How do I know what not to give them?"

"Just stay strong," Sarah said. "And know that if they do push you a little too far, I've always got your back."

"I guess that's all I need," Kelly smiled, then leaned in to give Sarah a hug, but the pink Ranger pulled away.

"Uh… no offence but you're… sticky. Like, movie theater floor sticky. And I just washed my hair this morning. Rain check until after your shower?"

"Seriously?" Kelly asked. Sarah did her best pout. Kelly chuckled, "Alright, rain check accepted. But next time you're covered in dirt and mud from an off-roading hoverboard adventure, don't expect a hug from me."

"I guess that's far," Sarah said with a shrug, then leaned back comfortably in her seat, allowing Kelly to quickly lean in and steal a kiss.


End file.
